OAKLAND – If only for a day, Draymond Green’s nickname – "Dray" – was no longer his own.

There was a different "Dre" at the Golden State Warriors practice facility on Tuesday, the iconic rapper known as Dr. Dre who was on hand to discuss the ins and outs of the business world with the NBA’s defending champions. But before their meeting began, a session arranged by director of player programs Jonnie West and including legendary record producer Jimmy Iovine, it was Green's reaction that said everything about the buzz in the building.

When asked by a team photographer whether he was willing to pose for a picture with Dr. Dre, Green flashed a huge smile and hollered, “Hell yeah.” As they posed, the shorter Dre said with a grin, “We got anything I can stand on?”

Kevin Durant, who routinely wears Beats by Dre headphones during his pregame warmup, told reporters how he’d spent so much of his summer watching – and re-watching – the HBO docuseries that chronicles the partnership between Dre and his Beats co-founder, Iovine, which led to Apple paying $3 billion for the company in late May. For these starstruck players who spend so much time being pursued by legions of fans, the reversal of roles was a sight to behold.

The surprising part of it all? Dre was just as enamored with the players as they were with him.

“Of course it is (fun),” Dre, sitting courtside at the Rakuten training facility while Steph Curry and Durant took shots just feet away, told USA TODAY Sports when asked if he was enjoying himself. “These are the champions. I respect a lot of the players on this team. It’s just amazing what they’ve been able to accomplish, and I’ve never been to an NBA practice before. This is the first time. It’s amazing, watching them go through the drills and what have you…”

While the Compton, Calif. native said he still claims the Lakers as his team, he wasn’t about to chime in on the LaVar Ball saga that is enveloping his favorite franchise.

“It’s a little slow right now,” he quipped of the team that is a Western Conference-worst 12-27. “Yeah, they’ll be back, but we’re up here right now. This is where it’s at.”

The crux of his message to the Warriors?

“Just winning,” said Dre, who has a net worth of approximately $740 million. “That’s all it’s about.”

Talk about sprucing up an otherwise-dull day at the office.

Draymond Green asked what he hopes to learn from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine today, said how two different people learned to work together, compared it to him and Steph: We "grew up different" pic.twitter.com/DcD9N7DoRY

As West explained, this annual meeting is required by the National Basketball Players Association and typically involves a detailed discussion about mundane topics like the salary cap and luxury tax. But after watching “Defiant Ones” during the summer, then hearing Durant, Green and others rave about what the story meant to them, West decided to track Dre and Iovine down to make the meeting more interesting.

He reached out to Eddie Cue, the Apple senior vice president who has become, as West put it, the Warriors’ version of Jack Nicholson in terms of being a superfan. Weeks later, the wheels were in motion. By the time Iovine relayed the request to Dre just before Christmas, they were all in.

“Let’s go,” Dre said of his response.

“From a relatability standpoint, for these (Warriors players), this is it,” said West, who is the son of NBA legend Jerry West. “All of our guys talked about it this summer. Kevin made comments that he had watched (the HBO show) every day for like two weeks, so I was like, ‘Why not?’ Let’s see if we can get it. Having these two is not like the true purpose of the meeting, but there’s still a lot that they can teach from a business standpoint.”

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